Roll packaging means



June 28, 1949. R. coRsoN ROLL PACKAGING MEANS Filed Jan. 9, 1948 IN VENTOR.

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Patented June 28, 1949 t 7 2,474,657

UNITED PATENT OFFICE ROLLPAGKAGING MEANS tt lnltflotson. Arli gton N-J-i ess eoor t oege et i .1 51 m!l ne. e o p e on o N ork ApplicationJon ooy 9, 1948. SesislNo. L360 1 10 Cla ms. (Cl.206+-59) h s nventi nte etesto meet r eeeleeeioe heet mate ial is provided which is in theform oil d sh et mete ielt speoie l-y trolled h et f e drum need hich io u ed and hock mate ie Of t heavy or bulky ehelreeter such as resistingconstrllfitiou but Wh ch comprises. a .95 1 1115 linol um or elt l osard go d arry ng ember hat ermits a limit d amount One f t pro emsthetoontinuelly o ifront 5 ne u ine displaeement ttleswpmg 9f he menuieei er o rol d s ee mete ie arhe oll e uv lu ions re tive t t e l exisii yw n e r lle sheet m riel i bulk his drum head issuoh that it can be mait in d. nd h a y is t eeooemieel ooelieeine of e n positi nhy e lugwhioh .is se ure r o and material n J- h a way that it will reach thewhich is adapted to fit within the central core us me i hout ama Rol oflinol um an 10 f the rolled sheet ma eriel e. e, a hollow tub felt a eyar goods may be it ee ie eet in bout w ich the es oi the roll are woundand n h en ma wei h up o e ooro o eouncis is s ch that when so ain ain dn p sition it rmo en sh nni g emi ee one trerisf rrine ill remain in llsition notw thstan ing se ere he heavy rolls, the goods age irequeg tlydrqpped blows and impacts, even though the over-all n e menne to exemnoblique y or edee i e, ngth oi he rolled sheet m te l is m rely s i tuotthe end lse of th oll teee ves o heavy ove r cl with a p per wre pereeaue, of the blow, the result (if; suehhlows the edges of the specialconstruction of the drum head with a loa q at iel wi h re some he ir-iea e of n: arrying memb t that permits limited lo i udiuh tentiel ydemesedel relativ disnl eem n o t les oping of the In the past it wasthe reetioe to wrap e r011: roll, onvolutioi longitudinally of the r llaxis, of lin leum or felt b se Yard. seeds n p er end my eh orme eh okssu h as may occur w en he Pltce the pd ol in o suitehleoret out oll. isqrooped on on end edge of the. roll, a is ereetiee s-so x ensi e that inrecent years. dissipat d through the body of the ro l ofsheethe use ef es hesbeen, bend n d fewer of. material itself over at period of im d rng hieh unereted l t elopeti neokeees- MQlQQ BI he rmitted telescopingtakes place. Th r s l he f ra es did n t neeessetily te ultin the tettlie inert a- .force of he p i which are im netion o dama e to he oneed es o rol s ermi ted t teles ope is he m e ly ssipat d, p lie e l ndthis c ion eorre -ond ne y d min she l e I11 order to protect the gangsoi ur creteq page shock forces imposed on the edges fthe plies-1p. wrape roll dsheet eter el t hes eretotore he mmediate zone o c nt ct withresult n ee Proposes to olee e disk; or plate whose ssening o thelikelihood of d m t s t iameter 'oor spoeds with he diamete of the paent. theretoret that the nc p ed y oll t ea h, nd'oi the 1e 1 end o mantain the he drum eed ok elo rh n means of tifis or s or me e ieplee uua ly by means of it t me nvention is basically diff rent as. compa dwith oot-r el th Iefi and nte ing; the hollow core of disks orthe likewhich have heretofore. been pmthe rolled. sheet ma erial, owever, when eh evyosed to: pm eotine the ends o paper-wrapped Qll is drQP-ReQ especialy if the mpact is OQIl-s packages of rolled sheet material and wmeh e ireted t an endedee'ot he. roll th edges of beeeu eof thei d sign pre entany t le opin the p es t th en of the relleolsheet ma er e whateve oi el s, ee vine the imee t are it o e y substan lly 4o Fea u s o th s ock aso bi g a s of th ee o M eo er! dueto he se e -i se f uelr vention rlate to. the pr vision of e u d i l e s Q e et me eteineo t t e end,onst ie i o tiereie th lo c r i g rnember of t the 0 ree ivioethe imn ets o enrdi p e i s in thefoitm o e eon-tro s! ep u d 5 5 and. diseng edeomeletely tem, the r l-. 7 herein. an ermiiler space is. interposed bee n I s. o ob e t of is inventi n p i e ei eeo e toad. eer-tying di kemian outer cover disk tive means or et te ine ttie ends of eepe dieee tthee nheries thereof Seeur d to the wrapped packages of rolled sheetmaterial. It is inside 0,? the, cover is a plus Wh x e ds e r h r bj tof the inven ion o rovide such hrou h the e rtii e sn the leedv eeriyingdisk for fi e ve p o ection by means, whieh are eco,v penetration into atube or the equivalent abo t. mieeleo l. oteetioe i l i1l UKLQHSBQQU meerial s olled so as to kee Aeeotdine o thi im tiottins eedot uti izing edime been prop y sent/erode P-reiemiiiy e11 nd pp r tot rolleqshe tme eie which is going, h s, essoeiet d er w h ongs wm P id s q al loecieerrying sepoo t fo al of xve o r tain th plug in he roll tube a ter ith p i of t e roll novel sh k: bsor in meet es teem nserted thereto Thrum head ce for en en lo the oeoet-wreeped eeekeeeo tol e o e e s iieble o r e rou h ee plies of the rolled sheet material but is yieldableto permit substantial bending of the load carrying disk inwardly fromthe spaced under abnormal load conditions such as may occur as theresult of dropping the packaged roll of sheet material. Such abnormalloads which are imposed when the packaged roll of sheet materialdropped, result from the tendency of the plies of the rolled sheetmaterial to telescope longitudinally of the roll, and according to thisinvention,

this telescoping is permitted because of the nature of the support forthe load carrying disk and because of the yieldable character of theload carrying disk, and the portion of the load carrying disk within theinternal diameter of the spacer bends to accommodate itself to thetelescoping of the plies while oifering resistance thereto. At the sametime, the construction of the drum head is such that its structuralintegrity is not impaired under such abnormal conditions and it remainssecurely inposition so as to continue to afford the desired protection.

Further purposes, features and advantages of 5.

fiberboard sheet substantially 0.2 inch in thickness. The load carryingdisk has the circular aperture I4 in the center thereof which is ofsubstantially the same diameter as the internal diameter of the tube II.

The shock absorbing means also comprises the cover disk I 5 whichlikewise may advantageously be made of 0.2 inch fiberboard. Interposedbetween the load carrying disk I3 and the cover disk I 5 there is theannular spacer I6. Any suitable material can be used for this annularspacer. One satisfactory and inexpensive construction for the annularspacer is spirally wound chipboard. For use in packaging linoleum rollsthe annular spacer may be aboutv inch in thickness longitudinally of theroll and may be about 1 inch wide radially from the axis of the roll.The annular spacer can be maintained in position by any suitpackagedrolled sheet material embodying this invention,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view on a larger scale of the structuralelements of the shock absorbing means at one end of the packaged rolledsheet material shown in Fig. 1, these elements being shown in separatedrelation to improve the char-- ity of the showing, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on a larger scale of the lower end ofthe packaged rolled sheet material shown in Fig. 1, showing the positionof the parts after the packaged rolled sheet material has been subjectedto impact at a point on the lower end edge thereof.

The roll of sheet materialis indicated generally in the drawings by thereference character I 8. For purposes of illustration, the roll may be aI roll of linoleum floor covering, The linoleum is wrapped in the formof convolutions about the central core II which may be in the form of achipboard tube. The diameter of the tube may be selected as desired butfor a heavy roll of linoleum the internal diameter of this tube may besubstantially five inches. The convolutions of the rolled linoleum formthe succession of plies I Z. The outer diameter of the roll will, ofcourse,

depend on the yardage contained in the roll. Usually the yardagescontained in rolls packaged for shipment are standardized with theresult that the roll diameters run nearly constant depending on thepredetermined yardages for the rolls. Usually these diameters, in thecase of rolled linoleum, range from about 9 inches to about 13 inches.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the novel shock absorbing means of this invention atthe lower end of the roll is shown in detail. This shock absorbing meanscomprises the load carrying disk I3. For

carrying the load imposed by a roll of linoleum this load carrying diskmay be in the form of a able means such as the wire staples I! driventhrough the load carrying disk and also through the cover disk into thebody of the annular spacer I6. The annular spacer I6 is disposed so asto support the load carrying disk adjacent to the outer plies of theroll I0. It is-to be noted that the inner portion of the load carryingdisk is unsupported and that the spacer I6 provides substantial spcaingbetween the load carrying disk I3 and the cover disk I5, therebypermitting substintial bending of the load carrying disk inwardly fromthe annular spacer I6 without coming in contact with the cover disk.

In order to maintain the drum head provided by the load carrying diskI3, the cover disk I5 and the spacer I6 at the end of the roll and inorder to keep it centered relative to the roll, the plug I8 is provided.This plug has an external diameter corresponding to the inner diameterof the tube II Thus if the internal diameter of the tube II is 5 inchesthe external diameter of the plug likewise is 5 inches. The plug I8extends through the aperture I4 in the load carrying disk I3 and is notsecured thereto in any way. However, the plug I8 is secured to theinside face of the coverdisk I5 as by the nails I9. The plug I8 mayconveniently be made of wood.

The plug I8 is seen to be adapted for insertion in the tube I I and whenso inserted keeps the drum head in properly centered position relativeto the roll I0. It has been found desirable in the practice of thisinvention to provide the plug I8 with tangs which are so directed as topermit insertion of the plug I8 into the tube I I while affording a gripwhich holds the plug in its inserted position. 'These tangs can beprovided simply by a U-shaped spring clip 20 which fits over the bottomof the plug I8 and which has upwardly extending arms alongside theperiphery of plug I8. These arms are provided with the tangs 2i whichare pointed and are downwardly inclined. Preferably the arms of the clip28 extend beyond the end of the plug I8 and have inwardly turned ends 22to facilitate entry of the arms into the tube I I. The clip 20 can bemade of spring steel, and the tangs can be formed therein in anysuitable way, e. g. as by stamping. The upper end of Figs. 1 and 3. Forfurther protection to the end i of theroll-ed sheet material, and inorder to assist in maintaining the shock absorbingdrum head in place,the drum head and the lower end of theroll may be covered with asuitable covering of flexible sheet material 24. Any flexible sheetmaterial of suflicient strength and toughness may i be used for thispurpose, e. g. burlap. In order to keepthis covering snugly in placeover the drum head and over the end of the roll to which thedrum head issecured, the drum head and the surface of the paper wrapper 28 adjacentthereto may have glue applied thereto before the coveringis placedthereover, and in orderto assist in keeping the covering in place aboutthe lower end of the roll two strips and 260i gummed tape may beapplied. As shown in Fig. 1, the

shock absorbing and protecting means at the lower end of the rollordinarily is duplicatedat the opposite end ofthe roll sothat each endof the roll may be protected. If desired, the paper wrapper 28 may beomitted and in such case the outermost convolution of the rolled sheetmaterial acts as a wrapper for the inner convolutions. employ thewrapper 28 of paper or similar sheet material so as to protect theoutermost convolution of the packaged rolled sheet material throughoutthe length thereof and so as to provide. a suriface'to which thecovering 24 may be made adherent, as bythe use of an adhesive.

without damaging the surface of the outermost convolution of the rolledsheet material. While specific means have been described and shown formaintaining the drum head and positioning The way by which the improvedshock ab- 7 sorbinq means of the packaged rolled sheet material acts toprevent damage to the rolled sheet material when the package issubjected to irn pacts may be illustrated in connection with theembodiment shown in the drawings, with particular reference to Figs. 1and 3. In Fig. l the packaged roll of linoleum is shown in a tiltedposition such as that which it may assume when handled by a workman inunloading the rolls from a truck or freight car. Fig. 3 illustrates theaction of the shock absorbing means of the package in the event that thepackaged material in the position shown in Fig, 1 were to be dropped.Upon contact of the end edge of the packa e with the floor or. pavement21 the resulting shock is dissipated in the body of the roll due to thefact that the inner plies of the roll are permitted to telescope in thedirection of the roll axis. In Fig. 3 the substantial telescoping of theplies is shown with the attendant bending of the load carrying disk 13inwardly from the spacer l6. Of course, the plies of the rolled sheetmaterial immediately overlying the spacer are brought to anabrupt stopwhen the package strikes the floor or pavement 21, but instead of havingthe However, it is ordinarily preferable to force neaessarrtororerccmehe i ertia r e.

entire mass of: the 120.11 cencentra ed he ed es of the outer plies at.the. zone o c ntact. as wo ld be the caseir the. entireroll w r br u h tn I abrupt. stop. by use; of a. rigid protectingk.

the inertia oithe, plies within the inner diameter of: the spacer islargely dissipated during the sub:

stantial interval oi time within which the per-.- mitted telescopingtakes place after the momentof initial contact with the floor orpavement. Therefore, much of the inertia of the falling roll isdissipated in overcoming the friction required to effect the telescopingand in bending the load carrying disls'and the outer plies of the rollin the zone immediately above the point of contact are not subjected toa sudden application of the very great force that would be required inorder to eflectan immediate arresting of the inertia of'the entire roll.Because of this action the force applied to the edges of any of theplies in the roll at any onetime is greatly reduced and the likelihoodof damage to them due to impacts received at the end of thepackage iscorrespondingly reduced.

Further in connection with the foregoing description of the action ofthe shock absorbing means of this invention in minimizing the severityof shocks against the edges of plies of the rolled sheet 'material, itis preferable, in the practice of thisinvention, that the cover disk lbof the drum head embodiment that has been shown anddescribed, as well asthe load carrying disk, be composed of yieldable material. When thecover disk [5 is composed of yielda-ble material, this element of theshock absorbing means may likewise yield to some extent to accommodateand permit telescoping of the plies inthe roll. Such action may bedesirable, e. g, in the case of extremely heavy impacts that be receivedwhen a roll positioned as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 is dropped from aconsiderable height. In Fig. 3 the cover disk l5 not shown dishedoutwardly, but if the received impact were of sufficient severity,resilient material. used for the cover disk l5 would permit it to dishoutwardly soas to augment the cushioning action of the shock'absorbingmeans and so as to mini" mize the likelihood of the shock. absorbingmeans becoming displaced.

The efiectiveness of-the novel shock absorbing means of this inventionhas been demonstrated as the result of thorough testing under verysevere dropping tests conducted both at 25 F. and" at '75 F. using rollsof linoleum for these tests. When ordinary end protecting disks wereemployed in these tests the edges of some of the plies'of the rolledlinoleum were severely damaged. When, however, these linoleum rolls werepackaged employing the novel shock absorbing means of this invention andwere subjected tothe same tests under the same conditions; the edges ofthe piles of the packaged linoleum were not appreciably damaged.

While this invention has been described in connection with a specificembodiment for purposes of illustration, it is apparent that thespecific construction mentioned can be varied. Thus instead of makingthe load carrying disk and the cover disk out of fiberboard, any othersuitable material can be used such as other pressed fiber sheet materials, pressure molded or laminated plastic sheet materials,vulcanized materials such as vulcanized rubber, etc. The diameter of thedisks ordinarily will conform to the outer diameter of the roll of sheetmaterial with which the shock absorbing means of this invention isemployed. The thickness of the load carrying disk will depend on thematerial employed, the diameter of the unsupported portion of the loadcarrying disk and the weight of the rolled sheet material carried bythis unsupported portion. In any event the load carrying disk should beadapted so that the unsupported portion thereof will support the pliesof the rolled sheet material under normal conditions of storage andshipment but will be yieldable to permit substantial bending of the loadcarrying disk inwardly from the spacer, to accommodate telescoping ofthe plies as the result of shocks and sudden impacts. The predeterminednormal load carrying capacity of the load carrying disk is, of course,readily determinable utilizing the principles of this invention so as tobe appropriate under varying conditions depending principally on thesize and weight of the rolls that are packaged.

It is ordinarily the case that the outer or cover disk will haveapproximately the same load carrying characteristics as the loadcarrying disk, and for this reason it is usually convenient to make boththe load carrying disk and the cover disk out of the same material.Moreover, it is usually preferable that the load carrying disk as wellas the cover disk be made out of resilient material so as to permitdishing for accommodating the telescoping of the roll plies and so as toprovide at the same time a springing action tending to move the pliestoward their original position after the maximum amount of telescopingcaused by an impact has occurred.

With regard to the annular spacer, it can be made out of any suitablematerial. While wound laminations of chipboard, linerboard, heavy paperand the like are inexpensive and are effective, other materials such asmolded plastics, or plastic-- fiber compositions may be used, orvulcanized materials such as rubber compositions may be used. Of course,any suitable means for maintaining the parts in their desired relativeposition may be used such as stitching wire or adhesives, e. g., glue.

It is apparent from the foregoing that according to this inventionpackaging means is afforded which effectively solves the problem ofprotecting the end edges of rolled sheet material due to accidentalshocks received during shipping, transference or other handling of therolls. This has been accomplished in a novel manner and by theemployment of shock absorbing means that can be made of inexpensivereadily available materials, and that can be manufactured and installedat a low fabricating cost.

While this invention has been described in connection with certaintypical embodiments and examples, it is to be understood that this hasbeen done for illustrative purposes and that the principle involved andthe advantages obtained may be availed of according to this inventionwithin the scope thereof as defined in' the following claims.

I claim:

1. Packaged rolled sheet material comprising a roll of sheet materialwound about a central tube, and shock absorbing means at least at oneend thereof, said shock absorbing means comprising a centrally aperturedload-carrying disk which is arranged to support the edges of the pliesof the rolled sheet material at said end, a cover disk spaced from saidcentrally apertured load-carrying disk, an annular spacer maintainedbetween said load-carrying disk and said cover disk adjacent theperipheries thereof and supporting said load-carrying disk adjacent theouter plies of said rolled sheet material, the inner portion of saidload-carrying disk being unsupported against bending, a plug secured tothe inner side of said cover disk and extending through the aperture insaid load-carrying disk and into said tube, and means for securing saidshock absorbing means to said rolled sheet material at said end thereof,said load-carrying disk being adapted to support the load normallyimposed thereon by the edges of the plies of said rolled sheet materialwhile being yieldable to permit substantial bending thereof inwardlyfrom said annular spacer to accommodate relative displacement of saidplies longitudinally of said rolled sheet material when said end of saidpackaged rolled sheet material is subjected to impact.

2. Packaged rolled sheet material according to claim 1 wherein saidload-carrying disk is composed of fiberboard having substantialresilience.

3. Packaged rolled sheet material according to claim 1 wherein saidcover disk as well as. said load-carrying disk is composed of yieldablema terial.

4. Packaged rolled sheet material according to claim 1 wherein saidload-carrying disk and said cover disk are composed of yieldablefiberboard having substantial resilience.

5. Packaged rolled sheet material according to claim 1 wherein stripmetal is secured to said plug along the peripheral portion thereofwithin said tube, said strip metal presenting tangs engaging the innersurface of said tube to prevent retraction of said plug from said tube.

'6. Packaged rolled sheet material comprising a roll of sheet materialhaving a hollow core and shock absorbing means at at least one endthereof, said shock absorbing means comprising a drum head in the formof a fiat load carrying member which is arranged to support the edges ofthe plies of the rolled sheet material at said end, an annular spacersecured to the load carrying member on the opposite side of said loadcarrying member and supporting said load carrying member ad- ,iacent theouter plies of said rolled sheet material, the inner portion of saidload carrying member being unsupported against bending, and a covermember secured to the opposite side of said annular spacer in spacedrelation with respect to said load carrying member; and means formaintaining said drum head in position at said end of said rolled sheetmaterial including a plug secured to said drum head and fitting intosaid hollow core, said load-carrying member being adapted to support theload normally imposed thereon by the edges of the plies of said rolledsheet material while being yieldable to permit substantial bendingthereof inwardly from said annular spacer to accommodate relativedisplacement of said plies longitudinally of said rolled sheet materialwhen said end of said packaged rolled sheet material is subjected toimpact.

7. Packaged rolled sheet material according to claim 6 wherein saidrolled sheet material has a paper wrapper thereabout and wherein acovering of tough flexible sheet material is secured to said drum headand to said paper wrapper adjacent said end of said rolled sheetmaterial.

-8. A shock absorbing head adapted for securement to the end of a rollof sheet material to protect said end thereof from damage due toimpacts, said shock absorbing head comprising a centrally aperturedload-carrying disk, a cover disk, an annular spacer between and securedto said loadcarrying disk and said cover disk adjacent the peripheriesthereof providing a support for said load-carrying disk adjacent theperiphery thereof, the inner portion of said load-carrying disk beingunsupported against bending, and a plug secured to the inner side ofsaid cover disk and extending through the aperture in said load-carryingdisk, said load-carrying disk being yieldable to permit substantialbending thereof inwardly from said spacer when the load imposed thereonby the edges of the plies of a roll of sheet material exceeds apredetermined amount.

9. A shock absorbing head according to claim 8 wherein the portion ofsaid plug extending beyond said load-carrying disk carries protrudingtangs disposed to prevent retraction of said plug from a tube in whichsaid plug is inserted.

10. A shock absorbing head adapted for securement to the end of a rollof sheet material to protect said end thereof from damage due toimpacts, said shock absorbing head comprising a centrally aperturedload-carrying disk adapted to be positioned against the end of the roll,a cover disk concentric therewith, a rigid annular spacer having aninner diameter substantially greater than the diameter of the aperturein said load carrying disk, said spacer being disposed between andsecured concentrically to said disks adjacent the peripheries thereof toprovide a support for the outer marginal portion of said load carryingdisk, and a plug secured to the inner side of said cover disk andextending freely through said aperture in said load carrying disk, saidlatter disk providing an annular support for the end of the roll, thatportion thereof inward of said outer marginal portion being yieldablerelative to said outer marginal portion to permit substantial bending ofsaid inward portion toward said cover disk when the head is subjected toload impacts.

RALPH CORSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,454,818 Jones May 8, 19232,286,500 Morrill et a1 June 16, 1942 Certificate of Correction Patent N0. 2,474,657. June 28, 1949.

RALPH OORSON It is hereby certified that error appears in the printedspecification of the above numbered patent requiring correction asfollows:

Column 3, line 10, for the Word spaced read spacer;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correctiontherein that the same may conform to the record of the case in thePatent Office.

Signed and sealed this 29th day of November, A. D. 1949.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Uommissz'oner of Patents.

